Aurora parents sponsoring heart screening in memory of son

Free cardiac screenings for East Aurora High School students is in memory of Dan Podczerwinski, known as Podz to his many friends, who died Memorial Day 2013 of cardiomyopathy.

Free cardiac screenings for East Aurora High School students is in memory of Dan Podczerwinski, known as Podz to his many friends, who died Memorial Day 2013 of cardiomyopathy. (Chuck and Sue Podczerwinski / Handout)

Sue Podczerwinski was chatting with her 26-year-old son Dan in their Stonebridge home on Aurora's Far East Side that Memorial Day of 2013 when, suddenly, the young man let out a snore-like sound and slumped back.

For a fleeting — and yes, hopeful – instant, his mother thought he'd just fallen asleep on the couch.

That's how cardiomyopathy strikes. Quickly and tragically.

We hear about young people dying from sudden cardiac arrest more these days. Or at least it seems more attention is being paid to this silent killer.

And that's a good thing because we're also hearing about a program that's fighting back.

The goal of Young Hearts For Life is to test high school students for cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle abnormality that can be present at birth or acquired later … and too often goes undiagnosed.

Because of generous donations, this screening has been taking place biennially for years in our Fox Valley schools, including West Aurora District 129, Indian Prairie District 204 and Naperville 203.

And now, thanks to Sue Podczerwinski and husband Chuck, all students at East Aurora High School will, for the first time, have the opportunity to get this screening.

Affectionately known as Podz to his large group of friends, Dan Podczerwinski was an avid golfer who was always doing something physical and active, and had absolutely no symptoms, his parents told me in an interview this week from the Naperville office of Chuck's insurance underwriter company.

The 2005 Benet Academy grad, who went to work with his dad after graduating from the University of Dayton, had even walked and carried his own clubs for 18 holes the day before he died.

If you are a parent, you can only imagine the shock of losing a child this way.

As Dan's family and friends struggled with their grief, they came up with the idea of the annual Podz Memorial Golf Outing. Held last September at the Aurora Country Club, this first-ever event sold out quickly and raised $60,000, half of which went to the scholarship program at Benet.

Denise Crosby / The Beacon-News

Chuck and Sue Podczerwinski of Aurora are sponsoring cardiac screenings for East Aurora High School students in memory of their 26-year-old son Dan. Volunteers are needed for the screening, which is made possible through Young Hearts For Life.

Chuck and Sue Podczerwinski of Aurora are sponsoring cardiac screenings for East Aurora High School students in memory of their 26-year-old son Dan. Volunteers are needed for the screening, which is made possible through Young Hearts For Life. (Denise Crosby / The Beacon-News)

But the family wanted to do more. Eventually, Sue and Chuck Podczerwinski teamed up with Young Hearts For Life, a nonprofit affiliated with Advocate Charitable Foundation, which has provided over 130,000 free electrocardiogram screenings for high school students since it was founded by Advocate cardiologist Joseph Marek in 2006.

Although Young Hearts For Life makes no money on the screenings, there are still costs associated with it. The Podczerwinskis chose to pay the estimated $12,000 to $15,000 for screenings for East students, not only because they now live in District 131 after moving to Stonegate West, but because this is the kind of help the low-income district needed to get this program off the ground.

"We were always in their backyards," said Young Hearts spokesman Johneen Davis of the surrounding schools that are receiving the screening. "And this was a great chance for us to work with East High."

Others are jumping on this important bandwagon, as well. The newly-formed Oswego Kiwanis, for example, is sponsoring screenings in both Oswego high schools in November. And Young Hearts For Life will add its first Elgin-area U46 school, when testing is done at Streamwood High School in March, thanks to the family of Elizabeth Kunce, who died unexpectedly in October of 2003 at age 22.

Realizing the need for screening goes beyond high school, Young Hearts is also working with Benedictine and Aurora universities to test collegiate athletes, added Davis.

The cardiac screenings, which will take place Sept. 24 and 25 at East Aurora High School, are a painless evaluation that takes only minutes but can detect the presence of certain serious heart conditions. Test results, according to East Aurora spokesman Matt Hanley, will not be shared with district employees.

The beauty of Young Hearts For Life – and what makes it unique – is that is relies on trained community volunteers to deliver this low-cost screening program.

More than 12,000 volunteers in the Chicago area have so far received this training. And East Aurora is looking for more people willing to help register students, assist families in waiting rooms, help with paperwork and data or assist with equipment on the two days the test will be offered in September.

To get involved, go to http://vols.pt/MyaBxJ or contact Rosalinda Saucedo at rsaucedo01@d131.org or 630-299-7265. Volunteers do not need to be associated with the high school but must go through a 90-minute training program on Sept. 23, said Hanley.

To date, over 2,000 students screened through this program have been identified as at-risk, according to Davis, with hundreds that were found to have life-threatening conditions. Included among those was Davis' own son, a student at Waubonsie Valley at the time, who was diagnosed with an arrhythmia that eventually needed a procedure to correct it.

All you have to do is go to www.yh4l.org to read the names and see the photos of more young people who have been affected. Some were victims of sudden cardiac disease; others are still with us because of the screening they received.

"There are so many stories," said Davis. And all have one thing in common. Those who have lost loved ones do not want others to endure the pain they have suffered.

Sue and Chuck Podczerwinski know that feeling well … it is what helps them deal with their personal grief – and their desire to make sure son Danny's memory is never forgotten.

This year's golf outing (go to www.teampodz.org for more information) will be held at Stonebridge Country Club on Sept. 19. And already, they say proudly, the event is on track to raise more money than last year's.

"If this (screening at East High) saves just one life," said Sue, "All this will have been worth it."